Company the Musical at Cineplex

The second live musical production to be filmed and shown at the Cineplex theatres is a special revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company including a star-studded cast from TV and Broadway.  As with most Sondheim works, Company does not follow the story arcs of traditional musicals.  It depicts the life of Robert, the perpetual commitment-fearing bachelor as he interacts with his 5 sets of coupled friends, each with their own issues and quirks.  The action jumps back and forth in time but returns repeatedly to the pinnacle event of his "surprise" 35th birthday party.  Each time the plot returns to this moment, he evolves as a character and learns more about what he really wants.

The set consisted mainly of five couches (one per couple) that were pushed around by ensemble actors dressed in black, as part of the choreography.  As Robert (or Bob, Bobby, Bobby Baby and several other nicknames) visits each couple, the others are pushed to the background but mostly stayed on stage and occasionally chimed in as a chorus.

The lead role of Robert is played by the omnipresent multi-talented Neil Patrick Harris, star of the hit show "How I Met Your Mother" who has sung, danced and acted his way through Glee, hosting the Tonies, and now this show.  Although his singing abilities don't quite live up to some of his Broadway belting costars, his charm, comedic timing and gentle vulnerability made his character extremely loveable despite all of Bobby's intended flaws.

Robert's married friend Peter asks at one point whether whether Robert had ever had a homoerotic experience.  This brought an ironic twitter through the audience who were well aware that that Neil Patrick Harris is openly gay.  The role reversal of Robert giving Peter homophobic glances and inching away uncomfortably only added to the humour.

Broadway legend Patti Lupone takes on the role of the bitterly aging, lecherous alcoholic Joanne, written for and made famous by Elaine Stritch. As she belted out the 11 O'Clock number "Ladies Who Lunch", great camera closeups showed the pathos and pain in her eyes.   Again I marvelled at how much I enjoy this cinematic experience of viewing a filmed live musical.

Other big names included Jon Cryer from "Two and a Half Men", Anika Noni Rose from the movie Dreamgirls, and Stephen Colbert whose character has a very funny karate scene with his wife played by Martha Plimpton from "Raising Hope".

Christina Hendricks from Mad Men was impressive in the comedic role of April, a not too bright flight attendent who is one of Bobby's three girlfriends.  Her wide-eyed naivete as she recounts a story about a butterfly and her use of stewardess hand gestures as she gushes over Bobby's apartment are hilarious.

One of my favourite songs is "Getting Married Today" sung by Katie Finneran in the role of Amy.  Striken with panic on her wedding day after years of living together with Paul, she sings with frantic speed lyrics like:

"I'm not well, So I'm not getting married--
You've been swell, But I'm not getting married--
Clear the hall, 'Cause I'm not getting married--
Thank you all, But I'm not getting married--
And don't tell Paul, But I'm not getting married today.."

This was juxtapositioned with a serene soprano choirist seemingly praising the joys of marriage but if you listen closely, her words say otherwise. This scene left the audience roaring with laughter.

"Bless this day,
Tragedy of life,
Husband joined to wife.
The heart sinks down and feels dead
This dreadful day."

Sondheim's genius as a lyrist is displayed in the climatic song "Being Alive" where Bobby comes to realize what it is he is missing in life.  The amazing thing is that this transition happens through two choruses of the song where he basically sing the same words but with a minor tweak and sung with a different tone, it totally changed the meaning of what he was saying.  

He starts out scoffing at relationships since all they will bring is:

"Someone to hold you too close,
Someone to hurt you too deep,
Someone to sit in your chair,
To ruin your sleep"

But midway through the song, he realizes that this exactly what he needs to feel alive and he subtly changes the words to urge and pray for:

"Somebody hold me too close,
Somebody hurt me too deep,
Somebody sit in my chair,
And ruin my sleep"

Typical to Sondheim musicals, there is no neatly wrapped up ending where magically his dream girl appears.  But there is hope since Robert has finally grown up and now knows what he wants and needs.  He can stop living vicariously through his friends and start to live for himself.